Mara
Martha’s reaction was immediate—too immediate.
She choked on the juice she’d just sipped and began coughing violently, her hand trembling as she reached for a napkin.
“Darian, this—” Alpha Vander started, his voice laced with warning.
But Lucian cut him off smoothly. Calm, but firm.
“I need to know, because I’m organising a small unit to retrieve her parents from Goldenpeak. If we’re going to handle this cleanly, we need to understand the stakes.”
The room fell still.
Vander’s mouth closed, his objection dying in his throat.
Martha slowly composed herself. Her cough subsided, but her composure cracked just enough for all of us to see.
“He hasn’t said anything recently,” she admitted, her voice smaller than usual. “And that silence is… making me nervous.”
Lucian eased back in
